History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 125

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > New Jersey > Somerset County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 125
USA > New Jersey > Hunterdon County > History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 125

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

DAVID M. KLINE.

Godfrey Kline and his wife Ida appear to have been the first American ancestors of this branch of the family, who came to this country from Germany. Their son, Christian Kline, was born March 13, 1754; married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Catharine Muller (or Miller, as it is called in this country), who was born July 12, 1758. They had children,-Henry M., David M., Jacob M., Betsy, Ida, and Maria. Henry M. married Sally Ramsey, and lived at Klines- ville, near Flemington, where he was a merchant, and reared a family of eight children. David M. married Elizabeth Ilager, Dec. 28, 1805. At the age of four- teen he was indentured to his uncle, David Miller, a

Isaac Trouve

Lambar BaKlini

Albert Shannon

ALBERT SHANNON, M.D., was born near Hope, Warren Co., N. J., Aug. 5, 1850, a son of John and Margaret (Harris) Shannon, and was brought up at Hope, receiving his prepara- tory education at Blair Academy, Blairstown, N. J. He received his degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1872, having previously read medicine with Dr. Thomas Bond, of Polkville, N. J. He first settled in Chicago, with the view of re- maining there permanently ; but his health not

being good he returned East, and settled at Stanton, Hunterdon Co., N. J., where he suc- ceeded to the practice of Dr. William S. Creveling, the latter removing to Bethlehem, N. J., to the estate of his father and grand- father.

Dr. Shannon married, Jan. 19, 1875, Martha, daughter of Dr. William S. Creveling, and has one child, Mary C. Shannon, born Oct. 9, 1876. He has quite a successful practice extending over a rich section of country.

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READINGTON.

merchant in German Valley, Hunterdon Co., to serve until he was twenty-one years of age, at the expira- tion of which he was to receive a " freedom suit and one hundred dollars in money." Having served his time and received his freedom, with the one hundred dollars as capital, he started in mercantile business for himself at New Germantown, where he remained two years. He then removed to Jacksonville (now Lebanon), where he was remarkably successful in business. He continued there for the rest of his life, building up a large mercantile trade, and realizing a handsome competency. His wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Jacob Hager, of Morris Co., N. J. Their children were Mary Catharine, born Feb. 15, 1807, married William R. Smith, of Pittstown, Hunterdon Co., May 29, 1828; Sophia Boeman, born April 23, 1809, married John Emery, of Lebanon, Oct. 28, 1826 (after his death she became the wife of George S. Shurts, of Lebanon, where they now reside); Da- vid Miller, born Nov. 23, 1811, married Sarah Ann Everett, Dec. 14, 1831 (and also married a second wife, Lydia Robison, of Baptisttown; they now re- side in Fulton Co., Ill.); Ann, born Feb. 20, 1814, married Dr. Henry Field, of Clinton, N. J., Dec. 15, 1831; Oliver, born May 25, 1816, died in infancy ; Jane, born Dec. 2, 1817, married Jonathan Dawes, Dec. 29, 1835; Lambert Boeman, born June 15, 1820; John Ramsey, born Oct. 15, 1822, married Elizabeth Van Syckel, July 23, 1844; Elizabeth, born Aug. 5, -1825, married William Childs, of Basking Ridge, N. J .; William, born Dec. 27, 1829, died in infancy.

Jacob M. Kline married Phebe Kuhl (Cool), and had several children. He was for several years a merchant at Hamden, N. J., and removed to Fair- view, Ill., where he died recently. Betsy Kline mar- ried John Ramsey; Ida married Harmon Diltz; Maria married Abraham Melick.

David M. Kline died Dec. 6, 1861, aged seventy- seven years. Ilis wife Elizabeth died March 19, 1835.

LAMBERT BOEMAN KLINE,

the seventh child of David M. and Elizabeth Hager Kline, was born in Lebanon, Hunterdon Co., N. J., June 15, 1820; married, first, Emily Shannon, of Leb- anon, May 26, 1841. They had children, as follows : David M., born May 5, 1846, died at the age of twenty-

two ; Sarah S., born Feb. 23, 1848, married George W. Sharp, of Annandale, Hunterdon Co., March 17, 1869; Julia B., born Oct. 5, 1851, married Charles MI. Quimby, of Chester, Morris Co., N. J., Feb. 25, 1873 ; William S., born March 5, 1853, died in infancy ; Ed- gar E., born Ang. 21, 1858, married Eliza A. Mills, of Chester, Ang. 30, 1876. Mrs. Emily Kline died Sept. 22, 1861. Mr. Kline married for his second wife Har- riet W. Foster, of Wooster, Ohio, Nov. 8, 1862. They have one daughter, Mary E. M. Kline, born Dec. 25, 1863. Mr. Kline grew up behind his father's counter as clerk, where he remained till he took the store under his own management, and continued a success- ful mercantile career till 1863, when he removed to the homestead farm of Christopher Rowe, at Three Bridges, Hunterdon Co., where he now resides.

ISAAC ROWE

was a son of Christopher Rowe and Ida Vesselius, who were the grandparents of the present Mrs. Har- riet W. Kline, who inherited the estate, part of which had been in the family for over a hundred years. It was bequeathed to her by the subject of this sketch, who died Feb. 16, 1862, and whose memory Mrs. Kline holds in grateful esteem.

Ida Vesselins was the daughter of Dr. George An- drew Vesselius, who was born and educated in Hol- land or Germany, and came to this country not later than 1749. He lived on the Old York Road, half a mile from Three Bridges, in a stone house on the top of the hill, having an extensive and successful prac- tice. He died in 1767, and his remains were interred on his own land. There is no mark or monument to. show where he lies.

Christopher Rowe was born March 1, 1756, and his wife Ida Nov. 4, 1758. Their children were as fol- lows : Mary, born March 15, 1782, married Jacob Young, of Raritan township, and died without issue ; Jacob, born April 25, 1787, lived on the homestead till Feb. 15, 1857, when he died ; Isaac, born Nov. 25, 1793, married Margaret Case, of Raritan township, and died childless ; Abraham, born Sept. 12, 1795, died in infancy. Of the entire family only two remain at this writing,-viz., Mrs. Harriet N. Kline and her daughter, Mary E. M. Kline, of Three Bridges, HIunterdon Co.

UNION .*

THIS township was formed from the south part of Bethlehem township by act of the Legislature, session of 1852-53. It was brought about principally by those who opposed the then existing school law. Two names were proposed for the new township,- "Union," the name of the furnace formerly existing in its northeastern part, and "Rockhill," in honor of the families who had for many years owned and re- sided in the extreme south part of the township of Bethlehem, embracing at this time Robeson Rockhill, Esq., and Edward A. Rockhill, his brother, great- grandsons of Edward Rockhill, a large land-proprietor (who lived here as early as 1731), and grandsons of Dr. John Rockhill, who settled here in 1748. The former name was selected.

It is divided from Bethlehem by a line commencing at a stone in the boundary of Alexandria, in the road leading from Bloomsbury to the Hickory farm, on the top of the hill north of the Hickory, and running in an easterly direction about four miles to the Union Methodist Episcopal church at the mines (Norton), and thence, in the same direction, until it strikes Spruce Run, which for about three and a half miles divides it from High Bridge, formerly Lebanon town- ship.

The territory is sufficiently undulating to need but very little artificial drainage. There is no marsh- land in the township, and, except the two small mill- ponds of Pattenburg and Cole's Mill, scarcely two successive acres that could not be tilled. It is drained principally by the " Big Brook," known on maps by the names of " Albertson's Brook," " Albertson's Branch," and called by the aborigines " Monselaugh- away" (said to mean big brook), which empties into Spruce Run, that discharges its waters into the South Branch of the Raritan. There are also several spring runs in the south of the township, all making their way to the Capoolon and the South Branch of the Raritan. These springs, withont exception, supply pure water.

The land, when properly tilled, produces good crops of grass, corn, wheat, and other grains. At Clinton, and thence up Spruce Run and the Big Brook, there is an abundance of good limestone, of which considerable has been burned and distributed in the vicinity as a fertilizer; its effects are plainly visible in the increased prodnce of the farms where used. The soil along the northern boundary is in some instances gravelly, as is also the western border,

being formed by the eastern slope of the so-called Barrens Ridge; the other parts are loam and clay, with some little red shale.

The township has, according to the report of the comptroller of the treasury, in 1879, 13,110 acres of land, valued at $786,550; and personal property valned at $244,600; 272 polls paid a tax of $258. The school tax is $1911.11; county tax, $3136.69; road tax, $1000; poor tax, $800.

EARLY SETTLERS.

Ferdinand Srope came from France about 1750 and settled in what was then the township of Amwell, afterwards Bethlehem, and now Union township, near where Norton post-office is now located. Here his son, Christopher Srope, was born, Nov. 2, 1761. Christopher married Thankful Penwell, Nov. 24, 1785. They raised a large family of children. Christopher died in Union township, Sept. 19, 1848, and his widow in Kingwood township, at Baptisttown, June 19, 1852, aged eighty-eight.

Jolin Srope, oldest son of Christopher, was a black- smith, and at an early age married Charity Smith and raised a large family, of whom Rev. William B. Srope, formerly pastor of the Baptist Church in Lambert- ville, is one.

David P. Srope, second son of Christopher, was born Nov. 1, 1787. At that time the then township of Bethlehem was but sparsely settled, his father having, after his discharge from the army, purchased a small lot of land when his young wife aud infant children were nearly his only companions. Up to the age of fifteen he had lived and labored within five miles of his birthplace, but a proposition being made to him to assist in the settling of an estate in the territory of Orleans, now the State of Louisiana, he concluded to undertake the journey. At that time there were only a few lumbering stage-coaches to carry passengers from place to place. With all the disadvantages of that kind of travel, Mr. Srope determined to undertake the hazardous journey to Pittsburgh, Pa., in a sulky, and then go by water to New Orleans. At that time much of the distance lay through an almost trackless wilderness, with scarcely a habitation within a day's ride. In spite of the dangers incident to the journey, Mr. Srope started out, and after several weeks spent upon the road arrived at Pittsburgh ; then, taking passage on board of an "ark," he commenced the descent of the Ohio River, and thence down the Mississippi to New Or- leans. On the Mississippi the ark passed, at Mem-

* By John Blane, M.D.

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phis, the first steamboat that ever plied on those waters. Arriving at his destination, he spent several months in settling up the estate, and then returned home.

Jan. 17, 1817, Mr. Srope married Miss Eliza An- derson, of Andersontown, Warren Co., N. J .; she bore him four children, of whom Joseph A. Srope, justice of the peace, residing at Washington, Warren Co., is one. Mrs. Srope died Dec. 7, 1848.

After Mr. Srope's marriage he settled in Lebanon township, about 1830, and was elected a judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Hunterdon County, which position he held for ten years; he was also a justice of the peace for twenty years.

In 1849, Mr. Srope moved to Washington, Warren Co., where he resided with his son, Joseph A., till March 29, 1876, the day of his death; his remains were interred in the Mansfield Cemetery, near Wash- ington.

Isaac R. Srope, another son of Christopher, was born May 4, 1802, and was a blacksmith, but his life was mostly spent in filling publie trusts. He was mar- ried, Dec. 25, 1828, to Sarah Roelofson, by whom he had eight children, five of whom are still living. The oldest, William T., resides in Frenchtown and is en- gaged in public business, being a justice of the peace, notary public, and a master in Chancery.

In 1830, Isaac R. Srope was appointed deputy sheriff of Hunterdon County, which office he filled for three years. In 1837 lie moved from Bethle- hem township to Baptisttown, in Kingwood town- ship. He was assessor several years both in Beth- lehem and in Kingwood. In 1841 he was elected to the Assembly from IIunterdon County without op- position, and was re-elected the following year. He served again in 1846-47, and the latter year was the leader of the Democratic party in the Legislature. In 1854 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Ile served three years as chosen freeholder from Kingwood township. In 1861 he moved to Frenchtown, and was elected a justice of the peace, which office lie held at the time of his decease, April 12, 1862.

Samuel P'. Srope, youngest son of Christopher, was horn Oct. 3, 1805. Hle emigrated to Ohio in 1836, and resided there until his death, Sept. 20, 1866. He married Elizabeth HI. Lewis, Sept. 25, 1834.

Sarah Srope, one of the daughters, married James McClouglin, who died at the residence of his son, David MeClouglin, in Clinton township, Hunterdon Co., at the advanced age of over one hundred years.

Rebecca Srope, another daughter, married Mor- decai Roberts, and her two sons, Charles and John HI., have resided in Lambertville for several years.

Catharine Srope, another daughter, married John Ilough, and Joseph H. Hough, who has been for more than forty years Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Masons of New Jersey, is her oldest son.

bachelor of both means and leisure, he came to this country in the latter part of the last century and re- sided in Flemington. Liking the country, he wrote for some of his nephews and nieces to come here. But one accepted the offer,-Sarah, daughter of John and Hannah Clark, who was born in Leicestershire, England, March 11, 1776, After arriving here she con- tinued with the Capner family, with whom she had crossed the ocean, until 1799, when she married Dan- iel, son of Philip Case, more commonly known at that time by the name of Tanner Case; his father was a German.

In 1804, Isaac Passam and Daniel Case and family moved on a farm they had purchased of the Cou- gle family, in Bethlehem, and erected a new stone house and frame barn, still standing and in good condition, and went to farming. The old buildings were of logs and very uncomfortable. Daniel was very fond of blooded stock. He brought the first English sheep into this part of the country, obtain- ing them from Capt. George Farmer, of Middlesex County ; they were part of the stock that William Talbot was accused of smuggling into this country. The country was new, and that kind of farming did not pay well at that time. Others, who came on later, fared better, and even to this day we see and feel what public-spirited individuals did for us by such improvement in domestic animals. Isaac Pas- sam and Daniel Case both died in 1826, and their land is now in the possession of the fourth and fifth gen- erations.

Mrs. Sarah Clark Case was a woman of good com- mon sense, and as a nurse in sickness could hardly be equaled. When they moved into this neighborhood medical help was searee and distant. The nearest was at Pittstown, and Dr. Forman dying very soon after made the want more felt. Her good success in nurs- ing caused her to be called on to preseribe, which she did with such success that she devoted nearly all her time to it; she was also in much request as an ac- coucheuse. In 1816 the Legislature of New Jersey passed a law deelaring as licensed all persons who were of good standing as physicians. Thus she be- came perhaps the first female practitioner in the State, certainly in the county. She practiced until age and increased medieal facilities compelled her to retire.

She always wished to have a physician in the fam- ily. She had but one son, John H. ; he had no rel- ishi for the profession, so she had to wait for another generation. John married Miss Elizabeth Bennett, and when their sons, Isaac and Daniel, were born, there seemed to be reasons why they should not be educated for professional life. But when their third son, Nathan, was born he was immediately dedicated to the profession of medicine. She did not see the fruition of her hopes, as she died in 1859.

On the west of the Passam and Case farm is what

Isane Passam was an Englishman by birth. A | was known as the Lompkin and Lawsho farm-since

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HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

owned by Jonathan Robins and now in the hands of his descendants-and the Hickory farm, part of which was acquired from the Passam farm; on the south the land was owned by Henry Carter and called the Carter farm, and the location east of this was owned and occupied by John Clifford.

Progressing east, we come to the late residence of William L. King, Esq., deceased, now owned by Miss Anna King, his daughter. There are several dwell- ings besides the homestead now occupied by Miss Anna and Joseph King, occupied mostly by me- chanics and the employees of Joseph King, who has been in business here for several years.

Joseph King, father of William L., purchased this property of Thomas Twining in 1810, and he (Twin- ing) purchased it of James Parker and Gertrude his wife, then of Perth Amboy, Middlesex Co., July 3, 1793, for £383. It was on farm No. 119 of the so- ciety's map of division. Mr. Twining was a Quaker, and ran a fulling-mill and cloth-dressing establish- ment. It was later operated by Jacob Blain, son of Jacob Blain, of Rocky Hill, Somerset Co., who during his stay married Miss Ann, daughter of J. Youel or Yewel, a Scotchman. From this union came several children, among them Revs. John D. Blain and Joseph Blain, ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Jacob Blain, the present mail-carrier.

Farther east is the Grove farm, from 1775 to 1783 the residence of James Parker. He was son of John Parker and grandson of Elisha Parker, who settled at Woodbridge in 1765. James was the grandfather of the Hon. Cortlandt Parker ..

After Mr. Parker left Hunterdon, Hugh Exton bought the Grove property, lived there some time, and sold out and bought the " Union farm." It was on this farm that the Union Furnace stood. The ruins of the stack are still there, and bring to mind many legends, particularly those of the French and Indian war in 1755-65. When raids were made by the In- dians, or when the whites anticipated one, the inhab- itants for many miles around, particularly from that part of Warren County lying between this and the Blue Mountains, used to take shelter within the strong walls of the buildings, which were mostly of stone. Here the women and children would remain until danger was over, the men daily scouring the woods and, as far as they could, looking after their stock, and coming in from miles around to sleep at night. This Union farm is mostly owned by the descendants of Hugh Exton in the third and fourth generations. Some fifty years ago it was used as a dairy-farm.

Going back to the south border of the township, we have the Crawford and Wilson farm. The house, a stone building, is in good repair; it was built in 1765 by John Crawford, a vestryman in St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, in Alexandria, previous to 1764. Here he kept a store and tavern. He gave that part of the original Presbyterian church lot that is on the west side of the Kirkbride line, and John Chamber-

lin, living on the east side (a Baptist), the other part. This yard was afterwards enlarged by purchase from the Wilson farm, now so called from two of Mr. Craw- ford's daughters marrying brothers, James and An- drew Wilson, in the hands of whose descendants it has ever since been. The present occupant is Mrs. Catharine Hibler.

From this place we have running in a northwest- erly direction the Lehigh Valley Railroad, more familiarly known as the Easton and Amboy, a dis- tance of five miles, having as stations Midvale and Pattenburg, between which (while the road was build- ing), Sept. 22, 1872, occurred what was called the "Pattenburg Riot," and which caused a great excite- ment at the time. It appears that late on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning a white man, said to be named Thomas Call, was found dead near the mouth of the tunnel, whereupon there was a general rising of the white workmen, who burned the log shanty of the negro workmen, near the mouth of the tunnel, and followed the fleeing inmates through Pat- tenburg to another shanty, about a mile east, between 6 and 7 o'clock, and killed first, by the side of the road, Dennis Powell, then Benjamin Dishmal, under a porch of a dwelling-house, and then Oscar Bruce, in the public highway. They were buried the next day on land belonging to the railroad company, about 300 yards north from the Midvale station. They were exemplary men, truthful and honest, and the negroes all loved, honored, and revered their " Daddy" Dish- mal.

Thomas Twining, when running his fulling-mill and cloth-dressing establishment, employed one John Porter, a son of an Episcopal clergyman who was a. chaplain in the British army. He was a good scholar, an excellent linguist, and in epistolary writing had few equals in either language, description, or senti- ment. When he came to this country or where he. learned his trade is not known; but he was a good workman. He was a monomaniac. On hearing a lady spoken of as handsome or attractive in manners, he avoided every chance of meeting or seeing her, for fear of being fascinated and drawn into love. He claimed to own all the good farms within his knowl- edge, having been forced to buy them. Through an agent he had received a yearly legacy of 19 guineas annually from his father's estate, sent to him by his sister, who was executrix of her father's will. The agent left Twining's, went into Morris County or upper part of German Valley, and then the yearly stipend ceased. This loss is said to have been the cause of his unsettled mind.

After leaving these parts he was in Morris County some time, but returned. At length it became neces- sary that the town should help him, but he could not and would not be removed to the poor-house. After some two or three years' resistance he was taken there under the plea that he might be convenient to his farms around there, and under a bargain that he

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was a boarder, and not a pauper. He was over six feet in height.

John Head made his appearance in this township shortly after the Revolution; he said he had come from Maryland and wished to teach school. He soon found one, and commenced teaching. He was apparently about thirty years of age. He soon courted and married a widow old enough to be his grand- mother, -- Mrs. Martin, the mother of Leonard Martin, a soldier in the Revolution. There were a great many of the past generation who received instruction from him. He lost his wife, and, like many other widowers, he married again,-another widow; and when too old to keep school they went to Easton and kept a shop. But, she dying in 1831 or 1832, he sold out and returned to his old friends. In the mean time he applied for and received two pensions,-one from the State of Maryland for two years' service in the Mary- land line in the Revolution, and one from the United States for five years' service in the army during the same. He received a severe sabre-wound in the head while in the service, which may have caused or in- creased his obliqnity of mind. He was particularly reticent in regard to his former history, but it was gathered that his father was an officer in the city of London, his mother dying when he was born. Hle was boarded out and kept at school until a young man, when word came to him that his father was dead ; he was persuaded to run away and come to America just as the Revolution was brewing. He landed in Baltimore, and soon went into the army, serving in the Maryland line for two years, and when honorably discharged re-enlisted in the Continental army for five years, served his time, got his honorable discharge, and, being a good penman, found some business in writing for a milling establishment. Ile soon married a Quakeress. They had one child,-a daughter. They differed ; she drove him away and he came here. Ile was affable and easily suited. If he entered a house that was a little out of order, and the good woman would apologize, Mr. Head had his couplet ready :

" Poor woman's work is never dono L'util the judgment-day comes on."

He was simple and childlike in manner, but very determined when his mind was made up.

The territory of this township, and some imme- diately adjacent, was once famous for distilleries of apple-whisky. Since 1828 there was near the Hick- ory Tavern Mr. Jonathan Robins ; at the Cross-roads, George Stires, Thomas Stires, and John Sutphin; at Pattenburg, Tunis Stires and Thomas Stires ; at Pitts- town, Henry Stires, Henry Snyder, and Jacob Stires; at Barrens, William Maxwell and Josias Maxwell; at Little's, Maj. John Little ; at Taylor's, William Tay- lor ; and near Van Syekelville, Henry Carter, Charles Robins, Ezekiel Cole, and Lewis Humphrey. These were all in the township, and just on its borders were |

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History of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, New Jersey : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 125

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Snell, James P; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1170